Alex Thomson presents his Imoca, a sailboat that has kept the 2016 Vendée Globe under tension. All dressed in black, he will accompany the British skipper throughout the Imoca Ocean Masters World Championship.
Designed by the VPLP/Verdier architect duo, this latest generation Imoca required two years of construction. It was built at the Green Marine shipyard in Southampton, England. Architecture, aesthetics, design, innovations, everything has been studied to design a unique and technologically advanced boat.
In order to make it lighter than its predecessors (5% more), new construction techniques and technologies used until now in Formula 1 have been applied. Its elongated black silhouette and interior design are the work of the famous industrial designer Konstantin Grcic. His permanent works can be found at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The designer's objective was to make it as comfortable as possible without weighing it down or slowing down its speed on the water.
It is not only the interior of the boat that has received special treatment. Extensive hydrodynamic research and studies on computational fluid mechanics (CFD) were conducted to determine the optimal dimensions of the new sailboat. Various options have been selected, and their performance on the Vendée Globe route has been calculated from meteorological databases. Once the ideal proportions were chosen, detailed studies were carried out on all the sailboat's components in order to achieve the best possible performance.
A boat designed for big sailing races
Alex Thomson is looking to reach the top of the podium in the Vendée Globe. In his last participation, the Brit finished third and broke the British record for the fastest single-handed sailing in the world on an Imoca 60.
The skipper, sponsored since 2003, spoke out on his new yacht: "We are all very happy about the new Hugo Boss. From design to construction to design, no detail has been left to chance. With this racing yacht, if it's as fast as it looks, we'll do great things."
"It's wonderful to have been able to work with Konstantin. From the moment it boarded my previous yacht and we started talking, I knew that it understood the challenges in designing and building an Imoca 60 racing yacht, whose priority aspects were speed and durability above all else. This is exactly what the shapes of the sailboat he designed allow, without sacrificing comfort, which I was not used to! When I'm alone at sea for long periods of time, I appreciate a little comfort."
"The Hugo Boss is a very beautiful sailboat. The bold color is unique. We've never seen this before. Normally, boats are more of a light colour, due to the reflective properties of heat. But our own sailboat is black. This is possible because we used a black paint that we created to reflect heat instead of absorbing it. I would like to thank BASF, which was our partner, and helped us to innovate in this area. I can't wait to get into the race with this new boat. After finishing third in the Vendée Globe, I am now aiming for first place for 2016/2017. I have the ideal boat that I hope will lead me to victory!".
The new Hugo Boss weighs approximately 7.5 tonnes, has a maximum speed of 35 knots (66 km/h) and is hoisted by some 2.5 kilometres of rigging and 633 square metres of sails.
Technical specifications
| Length | 18,23 m |
| Draught | 4,5 m |
| Mast height | 29 m |
| Weight | 7.5 tons |
| Sail area | 633 m2 |
| Total cost | 4.5 million euros |
